Political Plays on Words

This past weekend saw the negotiating between the Obama administration and the representatives from Congress discussing ways to come to a budget agreement to fund the debt of the U.S. Government and to try to encourage growth in the economy. As usual with political discourse, a series of “key” words were bandied about with regards to the negotiations.

The Obama administration, and of course the pandering media, liked the phrase “Grand Bargain” to try to make the American people think that Obama was getting the country a bargain. However, let’s look closer to that word and its meaning. Dictionary .com has this for a definition:

bar·gain   /

–noun

1.

an advantageous purchase, especially one acquired at less than the usual cost: The sale offered bargains galore.

2.

an agreement between parties settling what each shall give and take or perform and receive in a transaction.

3.

such an agreement as affecting one of the parties: a losing bargain.

Now, most of us as consumers would immediately consider definition number one as the primary definition of a bargain. After all, it is the one paying out the money that really determines if something is a bargain. If the payee feels that the “deal” is not to his advantage in that it truly is a bargain, then the payee will decline to “make the bargain.”

Obama’s “bargain” includes tax rate increases, thus taking more money from the payee, so I would hardly call that deal a bargain. Rightfully so, since the Obama administration and the Democratic Party controlled Congress since Obama’s election has dramatically spent money in what they are considering as their “Grand Bargain” over the past few years.

Sadly for the American taxpayer, the Democrat’s “bargain” has been at the expense of the people and businesses. In spite of the massive spending of the last two years, the Democrats are still ignoring the taxpayers and trying to spend even more. Thus, we have the “stalemate” over the debt ceiling.

However, consider this as a thought. The federal government takes in money every month from the withheld payroll taxes, fees, fines, and other taxes, and it takes in enough to actually cover the debt. All the Obama administration would have to do is to prioritize the debt that really needs to be paid. Congress can help in that with the passage of a number of bills which are currently in the Congress that would address what debts had priority over others.

Also, remember that the Democrats did not even propose a budget prior to the 2010 elections because they did not want the American people to know how they were going to spend them deeper into debt. If there is to be any blame for the fact that the debt ceiling has not been raised, which it doesn’t really need done, that blame must go to the Democrats because of their reckless disregard for following the law.

Now, having discussed the “bargain” that isn’t, let’s also consider some more words which the liberals and conservatives differ on.

Investment is the first word to consider. When a liberal uses this word, it is to hide the intention of their actions. Investment to them is simply more spending. Conservatives, on the other hand, imply that investment is back to the American people and the business community that actually invests in actions and policies that lead to growth in the economy, not just in government spending.

I’ve already discussed the effect of tax rate cuts on the growth of the economy in earlier postings, so I won’t repeat them here. Suffice it to say, I don’t think that “investment” in giving money to voting blocks to “get more votes” for the Democrats is really an expansion of the economy or really an investment in the future of the country.

Both political parties tend to use this next word and that is “scheme.” It normally is used by the Left for any plan that the Right- leaning Congress or President has proposed with the hope that the populace will consider the plan to be an underhanded deal to be avoided.

Lately, President Obama and the Democrats have been emphasizing “Millionaires and Billionaires” in their lexicon with regards to wanting to “tax the rich” more. This tactic is used a lot by them to foster a feeling of “class warfare” between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” However, their tax plan would affect the small business community, which is made up of a lot of people that are far from being millionaires and billionaires.

I heard some numbers on the radio today that relate to that. Eighty-seven percent of the new hiring is done by small businesses, and those businesses are made up of people who make $200,000 and up. The small business is usually one considered to have less than 500 employees and most of the taxes collected from the small business are figured on some individual’s tax return, the business owner. Now, my math may be fuzzy, but I don’t think that an individual making $200.000 to $250,000 is considered even a millionaire.

How many times have we heard the comments about a “scheme” to be shouldered by “the working class?” Just who is the working class? In reality, the liberals are referring mostly to the union membership. Now, this is not an indictment of union employees, but it is on those that use those employees. The last I heard, union membership makes up somewhere around 13% of the workforce. How many of you that may be in the “working class” received any money from the TARP or Stimulus plans?

In reality, the buyouts of Chrysler and GM were not done to help the companies. Those buyouts were done to help the unions. After all was said and done, the board of directors of both companies suddenly included union leaders in their make-up and a percentage of ownership in the companies were suddenly with the unions as well. If the unions “bought” into that ownership rather than just receive it from the government (think Obama here), it would really surprise me.

Well, I’ve discussed the words “Bargain,” “Investment,” “Scheme,” “Millionaires and Billionaires,” and “The Working Class” in this posting. However, I’ve run out of plausible room without getting out of hand on the length of this post, so I’ll have to stop and cover other “Key Words” later. I’ll bet that even the readers of this will know of a few themselves.

Sunset at Eleven Mile State Park, west of Colorado Springs in August of 2008.